Wednesday, April 06, 2005

$30.00

Once a month, a huge grocery chain in town offers a thirty dollar coupon for those willing, in exchange, to push a cart full of two-hundred and fifty dollars of groceries around their sprawling store. Today was grocery day.

Invariably, I choose the shopping cart with a faulty wheel that veers to one side. I end up fighting a cart that wants to go in a circle.Since I am a thrifty shopper, the two hundred and fifty dollars goes a long way but the cart ends up weighing two hundred and fifty pounds. I've had fellow shoppers admiring my strength of bench pressing my cart.I have gotten quite adept at stacking the groceries in the cart, but not as good as a friend of mine who strategically would hang shopping bags around her cart to prevent the inevitable overflow fallout. She also made a blueprint of the store so her route was pretty sophisticated. I ran into her once there ( not literally) and she looked incredibly relaxed. Boy, she made it look easy.I have also gotten quite skilled at placing groceries on the conveyor belt. The heavier items must go on first, for if I mistakenly put the bread on first, I will have to try to convince my family that this is the flatbread that is so popular in the States.

You would think that by now the worst would be over and I could rejoice in my thirty dollar savings but wait, I have yet to pack them. Of course I am as fastidious in packing as I am in stacking.The climax though is the trip out to the vehicle. I've had items fall out of the cart while the wheels get stuck in the snow and I've had the cart threaten to take off down a slippery slope while I bend to pick up another fallen item.Today went pretty well though, I only had one near mishap with a pregnant lady.